What St. Joseph, Spring, and my spouse all have in common...

What do St. Joseph, the 1st day of Spring, and my sweet spouse all have in common?
...I'm thankful for all three of them!!! :)

Today I am feeling grateful for my Catholic faith...  To have holy friends like St. Joseph to intercede for us, helping us in all our needs, and ultimately helping us to join them in heaven someday.  I am also feeling grateful for a holy husband who strives to imitate St. Joseph.  A husband who loves Jesus and His Blessed Mother, who has always protected my purity, guarded our family from evil, and guided us towards holiness---not perfectly, but certainly perseveringly---and that's what counts.

Thank you, God, for holy St. Joseph and my holy husband, Paul!
And thank you, God, for Spring weather!
How good it feels to be outdoors with sunshine on my face again!

This prayer is among the earliest prayers to St. Joseph, (from around A.D. 50!!!) and also one of the best known.  Let's pray it together for the special intentions we hold deep in our hearts, and also for all the men in our lives, that they become more like St. Joseph, strong and holy leaders of their families!  We certainly need more men like St. Joseph in this world!

Oh St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

Oh St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your divine son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss his fine head for me, and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen

Happy Feast of St. Joseph, 

and Happy first day of Spring!

  Both are worth celebrating!  

It's a Feast Day, 

so go ahead and feast a little bit!!!  :)

Family Photo Shoot

Every year I try to take new photos of the boys for our family blog and also for my mom's "Grandkids Wall of Fame"  :)  It is always a fun, yet stressful project for me because I am such a perfectionist and I have zero photography training, but I have to say I am pleased with this year's results.  Normally I take the photos at a nearby lake, but this year I took the photos right outside our rental house (yes, we are still in a rental...keep praying for us to find the home God has planned for us soon!).  Sometimes I struggle with being grateful for our rental house because it's waaayyyy out in the valley where the cactus and sage brush thrive, but I was thankful for the Montana-esque backdrop it made for these photos...  Always try to find the silver-lining, right?  :}  It would have been humorous for you to watch me take these photos because I kept having to kick chickens out of the way so that they wouldn't get in the photo.  I'm sure am learning to be quite the pioneer woman living out here!  Actually, I'm learning that I am no Laura Ingalls Wilder...there's no way I would have survived the pioneer days! :)  Anyway, here are the photos...  I was shocked to see how much the boys have grown since last year's photo.  I guess I didn't notice the change from day to day, but I can sure see it from year to year.

I am blessed to be the momma of these five beautiful boys:

I couldn't believe how much Joseph matured this year!  He looks so different from last year...  Even though he is only in the 8th grade, I had the strange feeling that I was taking his senior pictures!  It certainly gave me a twinge of sadness to think of how few years he has left in our home :(

Michael gets more and more handsome each year and more and more freckles too!

He got his braces off this year, so he was finally able to smile showing his teeth--although he just barely showed them off :}  He is the only one in the family with those beautiful brown eyes, and I have a feeling that someday they will melt a young lady's heart--unless, of course, he chooses the priesthood! :)

Dashing Dominic!  What more can I say?  How I love his hazel eyes, his huge hugs, and his sensitive, loving heart!

Natey's photo was perhaps my favorite one of all.  I just love his dimpled chin, his sweet grin, and that sweet sweater to match the blue mountains behind him!

I was grateful to get at least one good picture of Isaiah.  Getting a 2 year old to sit still and smile is like trying to catch a tumbleweed in a tornado!  :)  With the other boys photos, I had plenty of good photos to choose from, but with Isaiah I only had two...this one, and this one:

I'm guessing my mom will want the other one for her wall, but this one sure makes me laugh :)

After taking all the pictures of the boys, I asked my son Michael to take a few of Paul and I.  I thought they turned about pretty sweet  :)  I can't even pick which one I like the best.  Do you have a favorite?  I think my husband looks quite handsome in that hat.  God has abundantly blessed me...beautiful boys, a handsome husband, and Jesus' merciful love...what more could a girl want?  Well, perhaps a new house, but there I go being greedy again.  Truly, I am grateful for what I have and trying not to want more...but it is hard.  Pray for me and I will pray for you...just send me a comment or an email (pmhurlbert@gmail.com) if you have specific prayer intentions.  I would be honored to pray for you specifically.  

Pre-Christmas Highlights

Pre-Christmas-time is often a hectic, go-go-go-time, trying to get everything accomplished before the holidays.  I tend to get overwhelmed with finding the perfect presents for my kids, writing the perfect Christmas card with the perfect family photo, preparing a perfect holiday meal, while still trying to keep the focus on Christ somehow!?!?  Advent this year taught me that I can let go of perfectionism, and simply embrace the perfect Savior.  There is so much freedom in that!  Here are a few other things that helped our family to keep the Advent season Christ-centered:

1)  Our Advent devotional that we read as a family at night called "Bartholomew's Passage."  It has been a entertaining for all of us, and it really has great reflections at the end of each chapter to refocus our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas.

2)  We started a new tradition this year that I stole from my creative and holy friend Allison...  We have a tiny manger for baby Jesus, and each time I catch the boys doing a kind deed they get to put a piece of "hay" in the manger to make it soft and warm for baby Jesus.  However, if I catch the boys being selfish, unkind, or disobedient, they have to remove a piece of hay from the manger.  This has really been a concrete way to show the boys that their actions truly do effect Jesus.  Unfortunately, there have been a few days that many pieces of hay had to be removed...so I'm hoping and praying there will be some hay still left on Christmas morning when we place baby Jesus in the manger!  :}

3)  Last, but not least, Paul's mom came for a pre-Christmas trip that made Advent extra special.  Paul and I were even able to steal away for 2 nights while she babysat the kids!  We went to Whitefish, MT and stayed at a fancy resort that was so relaxing that I truly felt guilty being there!  We were able to eat at two fancy restaurants, soak in the hot tub at night, and I even was able to pamper myself at the spa by getting a facial (which actually back-fired on me and made my face break out for the next week!  Was that God's way of telling that I was being vain?)  But the best part was just having some quiet time to re-connect with my husband again.  With 5 kids in the house, we rarely have time to focus on "us," so this trip was truly one of the best Christmas presents ever!  Thank you so much, Grandma Jean!!!

Here are some highlights of our Advent season:

Paul with his mom, Jean.

We are so thankful she came to see the kids and give us a mini-vacation!

Here's my handsome husband, as we went on a walk in the woods, his favorite place to be!

It was sweet falling in love with him all over again...

I hope he felt the same way about me! :)

Me with a huckleberry margarita and one of the fanciest meals I've ever had!

How nice it was to not have to cook or cut up anyone's food (except my own)!

Michael got one of his greatest Christmas gifts ever...

he got his braces taken off a few days before Christmas!!!

To be honest, even though Christmas is supposed to be "the most wonderful time of the year,"

I really battle feelings of melancholy and loneliness.  We have no family nearby and I get homesick.

I have to search hard to find the beauty around me and constantly remind myself to be grateful for the many gifts I have been blessed with...

Thankfully, I don't have to search too hard to find reasons to smile!  :o)

These silly kids fill me with joy and gratitude daily!

Leading their little souls to Jesus is the greatest privilege on earth!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MAY GOD FILL YOUR HEARTS WITH MANY REASONS 

TO REJOICE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

The Hunting Harvest Recap

Well, hunting season is over.  Some of us are mourning, others are celebrating (I won't name any names)... ;) This year was extra special because it was Joseph's first year as an official hunter.  He aced his hunter safety course and was eager to pull the trigger to fill our freezer with meat.  Paul took Joseph out hunting many times; however, his season ended with no meat, but lots of good exercise hiking in the mountains and some great father-son bonding.  I consider that still a successful season.  Paul went out hunting a few times without Joseph as well, and was able to harvest one nice buck.  Paul was a bit disappointed that he finished another season without shooting an ever-elusive elk, but at least our freezer has some meat, so we are blessed.

I just couldn't make myself take a picture of the dead buck hanging in our garage, but I did manage to get a sweet shot of this handsome father-son hunting duo...

My husband and me

Meet my husband and me...

After 13 years we are still in love.  However, it's not the love I imagined.  It's not the twitterpated, adoring, "I want to hold your hand at all times" kind of love that I loved seeing in the movies as a young girl.  Nope.  We have the sacramental, daily struggle, choosing to love by dying to self, "committed to never leaving you even though some days I'd like to" kind of love.  Oh it's hard. Harder than I ever imagined--ever.  But more rewarding too, perhaps the way a marathon runner must feel after a race.  Yes, my husband and me are in marathon love, racing and struggling every day for the finish line of heaven where we will finally be able to love each other perfectly.  To be honest, some days we want to quit.  Some days we fight.  Some days I cry.  Some days we want to throw our vows (and NFP--but that's a whole other topic!) out the window.  But we don't.  We are as different as two people could be.  He likes to shoot animals.  I like to take pictures of them.   He likes bitter beer.  I like sweet wine.  He is greying.  I am perpetually teenage-looking.  If he were a tree, he'd be a wise and sturdy oak.  I'd be a fragile weeping willow.  But we have one thing in common that holds us together when we feel like falling apart.  We are Catholic.  We love Jesus more than we love ourselves, more than we love each other, and somehow that gives us the grace to keep on loving each other.  How thankful I am for sacramental grace!  And how thankful I am that I married a Catholic long-distance runner who is in this marriage for the long haul. 

 

my 2 hot babes

A Fitting Father's Day

How fitting that this Father's Day weekend was our first camping adventure of the season.  My husband loves the great outdoors.  It is his happy place.  Our boys are so blessed to have a daddy like him.  He is teaching them everything there is to learn about being a true man---a man of God and a man of adventure. 

With such respect I watched him all weekend teach the boys things their mommy certainly couldn't impart.  With patience and step-by-step wisdom he taught them how to build a fire.  Not how to build it the cheater way with a fire-starter or a box full of matches, but the survivalist way...starting with a single match and a tee pee of tiny, dry twigs, then placing a larger tee pee of slightly larger twigs around the first, followed by medium sticks, and so forth, until the fire was ablaze.   Later on, I watched as he coached each boy in archery, patiently making adjustments to their bows and dreaming aloud with them how they will soon be hunting by his side.  When they tired of archery, he took turns playing Chucko or Golf Toss with the boys.  Throughout the weekend, I watched as he cooked all our meals with a single-burner propane grill and calmly asked the boys to help with various chores.  It seemed that he was constantly working...while, at the same time, teaching our boys to value work.

The next day, I watched as he carried our littlest one (who isn't so very little anymore) in the hiking backpack for an 8 mile hike without complaint.  His example of quiet strength inspired the boys to hike without a whine escaping their lips (which is more than I can say of their mother).  As I watched him hike I was reminded that his rugged outdoorsiness was one of the qualities that most attracted me to him when we dated.  I loved hearing about all his hiking adventures in college and all over the world when he was in the Navy.  I secretly prayed that I would meet his adventurous standards enough to be his bride, and I dreamed that someday we would have lots of kids and be one of those outdoorsy families who camped and hiked all the time.  My prayer was answered about becoming his wife, and although I'm not sure we truly rate the outdoorsy family category yet, at least we are trying.  And I think the fact that we're trying made this a truly happy Father's Day for my husband...

Here is instructor daddy teaching Campfire 101.  Although you can't see it well in the picture, I love the fact that his Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, all worn and ragged, is peaking out of his shirt.  To me, that is a perfect snapshot of who my husband is:  humbly spiritual and a wild-at-heart outdoorsman

Here are my rugged men hiking to Cottonwood Lake.  This section of the hike was quite unique.  More than half of the trees in this area were dead and blown down from a fire and then a wind-storm years later.  Piles and piles of trees were strewn as far the eye can see.  Here and there you could find a few evergreens standing tall and bright, but those seemed to be the minority...

As I stared at the scene before me, the thought struck me that perhaps this is how God views the current state of humanity.  It seems that more and more souls are falling into sin and casually living a culture of death.  Things like abortion, contraception, divorce, and premarital sex are accepted by the masses.  Even our government is trying to create a health care plan with a mandate which threatens to take away our religious freedom by forcing all insurance plans to cover immoral procedures that our taxes will pay for.  It seems like those who stand up for a culture of life are the minority, just like those bright evergreens peeking through the piles of dead trunks.  I am so proud of my Catholic Church and my husband who have been actively standing up against the HHS mandate, striving to remain faithful to Truth whether it's popular or not.

Here is my handsome husband in the background taking a well-deserved break while Nathanael takes a break of his own. 

Joseph was a happy camper because he got to practice shooting his compound bow to his heart's content.

Michael takes after his mother and just loves to read with sunshine on his shoulders.

And Dominic was in Big Sky bliss because he could play Golf Toss from sun-up until sun-down.

Nathanael's favorite part about camping was sitting by the stream and throwing rock after rock after rock into the water.

He could have happily done this aaaallll....daaaay.....looooong.

When he wasn't throwing rocks into a stream, he contented himself with picking dandelions for daddy for Father's Day :)

And mommy was a happy camper with her favorite beverage in hand and knowing that her man was having a Happy Father's Day.  I am so thankful that God blessed me with my husband, Paul, and my dad, Patrick, who embody the highest definition of fatherhood and strive to please their Heavenly Father in all they do.  I pray that my sons grow up to be just like their father and grandfather someday (minus my dad's smoking habit, of course). :)

As Old as Jesus...

This week, on May 22nd, I turned 33.  It struck me that I am now the age that Jesus was when he died on the cross.  Jesus accomplished so much in his short 33 years of life on earth...he saved countless souls, healed so many lives with His love, and he continues to do so today.  I know it seems futile to compare my 33 years of life on earth with my Savior's life, but since we are all called to become more like Him, perhaps it's something we should do from time to time (perhaps even daily). 

As I look back on my life to see what I have accomplished, I see times when I know God was pleased with my efforts, but also times when I have failed miserably...failed to tap into His grace to touch others with His love, and chosen a selfish path instead.  The area that I have failed the most is my marriage.  I am married to a wonderful, Godly man, who has grown into a spiritual leader of our family, an incredible father to our boys who is modeling true manhood and virtue for them, and a loving husband who strives to serve me above himself.  And yet, our entire marriage I know I have placed expectations on him that were impossible to fill, therefore making him feel like a failure, when, in fact, it was me who failed...failed to serve and love him unconditionally.  We celebrate our 12th Anniversary this weekend, and it truly has taken me this long to see my marital immaturity and strive to repair, to heal, and to touch my husband's heart with Christ's unconditional love.  Thankfully, he is a very patient man and has continued loving me and trying to please me through my slow learning process :)  One of my dear friends, who has helped pray for my marriage over the years, sent me the link to an encouraging blog post about marriage.  The following excerpt really convicted my heart and hopefully it will help me become more like Jesus by age 34, and make my marriage more beautiful by our 13th Anniversary!  May these powerful words inspire you in your marriages to:


How would you ever learn unconditional love if you were married to someone who met all the conditions?


How would you ever learn mercy, patience, long suffering, or heart felt compassion if you were married to someone who never failed you? Who is never difficult with you? Who never sinned against you? Who is never slow to acknowledge their sin or ask for forgiveness?


How would you ever learn grace to pour out your favor on someone who did not deserve it if you were married to someone who was always deserving of all good things?


I was reminded that our focus of marriage should not be whether our spouse meets all conditions perfectly, to provide an easy relationship to enjoy.  Rather, we should focus on the opportunities God gives us in marriage to build up our character.


Marriage is a platform to practice the same characteristics of Christ.


You are married to a person who does not meet all the conditions, so that you might learn unconditional love. You are married to a person who needs mercy, so that you learn to give it.

And thus you become like the God you worship!


The main purpose of marriage is that through your marriage you become transformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

(an excerpt from a sermon by John Piper)

Here's a fun photo of Paul and I after 1 year of marriage.

I pray we will be this twitterpated, perhaps even MORE twitterpated, when we celebrate 50 years of marriage!

Memories I Want to Remember

Part of the reason I blog is to be able to write down funny things my kids say and do so that I don't forget them months or years down the road.  It seems like it's the split-second endearing moments that make motherhood worth all the hours and years of routine and sacrifice.  So here are a few snapshots (in words) of recent memories I want to remember...


The two older boys are in baseball right now, and I am surprised at how nervous I get when they are up to bat or on the pitching mound.  Dominic was standing near me while we were watching Michael's game last week, and in the middle of an inning the coach asked Michael to take over as pitcher.  As Michael started pitching, Dominic tells me, "Mom, mom, Michael is the pitcher!"  As I was trying to keep my eyes on the game, I just nodded and said, "Ya, ya, I know."   Dominic immediately replied, "But mom, shouldn't you be doing this?"  I didn't know what he meant, so I quickly glanced at Dominic who was apparently showing me what I normally do when Michael is pitching...  He had is hands in a prayer-position way up by his mouth.  I had to laugh out loud!  I never realized it before, but that is the nervous stance I take when one of my boys is pitching or at bat.  I guess I just do it as a nervous habit, although sometimes I really do start praying to help calm my nerves and hopefully to send some graces in my boys' direction to help them do well.  How funny that my 5-year-old noticed that...I hope no one else noticed!  Now that my kids are in sports, I am starting to realize why my mother used to obnoxiously yell and grab my leg when I sat next to her at my brothers' wrestling tournaments :) 

Nathanael is saying all sorts of funny things these days now that his vocabulary is taking off like wildfire.  Just this morning he was playing with the bikes in the garage and I said, "That's a bike, can you say bike?"  He looked at the bike again and confidently said, "A butt, a butt."  :)  And last week, I was filling up water balloons outside for the older boys while Nathanael was playing in the rocks nearby.  He came over to me making a perfect buzzing sound.  I thought to myself, how sweet, he must have seen a bumblebee.  Then I hear Dominic yell, "Mom, Nathanael's holding a bee!"  So I drop my water balloon that I was filling and quickly run over and slap the bee out of Nathanael's hand.  It falls to the ground, still very much alive, and Nathanael reaches down to pick it up again.  "No, no!" I yell as I quickly stomp on the buzzing bee with my shoe.  Then, of course, Nathanael starts to cry.  How he escaped from being stung is a miracle to me, but apparently kids never escape their moms ruining all their fun.  :}

Every night around the dinner table, Paul always asks the boys the same question:  "So, boys, what did you learn today?"  The boys have come to expect it now, and they usually are prepared with an answer about something that they learned in school that day.  Well, a few weeks after Paul broke his wrist, he asked the boys that same question at dinner time.  Joseph and Michael both gave one of their usual responses about leaning how do do long division or learning a new spelling word or something of that sort.  And then it was Dominic's turn.  Out of the blue he replied, "40 is too old for snowboarding."  Everyone broke out in laughter...  I guess I kids really do learn from their parent's mistakes! :)

Meet My Valentine...

This is my husband with his snowboard. He's my hot valentine.



He looks awesome on the ski hill zipping past the teenage boarders. Little do they know that he has salt and pepper hair under his helmet. Paul has been snowboarding since college, and I finally learned how to ski this year. Rarely do the two of us get to ski/snowboard together because one of us has to take care of the little tikes. But this weekend we had a rare treat. We hired a babysitter (shocking, I know!). So for one lovely hour we were able to be on the hill together, chatting on the chair lift, soaking in the sun and the snow-covered view, and then finishing our date with cheesy fries inside the lodge (that was my favorite part...the food inside the warm lodge is the real reason I ski). Anyway, it was grand. After our date, I went to pick up the little boys at the babysitter's, while Paul stayed with the big boys at the hill showing off his skills.

6 hours later...

This is my husband with his broken wrist, keeping it elevated to reduce the pain and swelling...ouch! He's still my hot valentine--even in a cast. He says he still wants to stick with snowboarding, but he probably won't attempt any more jumps at the ski hill's terrain park. I guess we'll have to wait until next season for another hot date at the hill.

He's so worth the wait...

But I hope he doesn't mind if I still have some cheesy fries at the lodge in the meantime. After all, my ski season isn't over yet! :)